At about the age of fourteen years "the period of youth is distinguished by that advance in the evolution of the generative apparatus in both sexes, and by that acquirement of its power of functional activity, which constitutes the state of _Puberty_." At this age the following great changes take place in the general appearance and deportment of the male: His frame becomes more angular and the masculine proportions more pronounced; increased strength and greater powers of endurance are manifested; the larynx enlarges and the voice becomes lower in pitch as well as rougher and more powerful; new feelings and desires awaken in the mind. His deportment becomes more commanding, his frivolity is less and less apparent, and the boy is lost in the man. If he has been so fortunate as to escape all the dangers and baneful influences of childhood, he is manly indeed, and we behold him with an unburdened conscience, bright intellect, frank address and good memory. His spirits are buoyant and his complexion clear; every function of his body is well performed, and no fatigue is felt after moderate exertion. He evinces that elasticity of body, and that happy control of himself and his feelings, which are indicative of the robust health and absence of care which should accompany youth. His time is devoted to his studies, duties and amusements; as he feels his stature increase, and his intellect enlarge, he gladly prepares for his coming struggle with the world. All boys may come to this condition with proper training through the period of infancy and childhood; and after arriving at the adolescent age of their existence as they have the power of mind to _choose_, so also have they the power to _refuse_. The human race is created above the animal so that we are something more than mere animals; we are human beings with human propensities, human passions, human desires and human tastes, which are subject to the human brain, to the human reason and to the human will--all elevated and ennobled by the Divine Will. Man must not let himself down to be governed by animal passions; the moment he does that, his higher powers suffer and become weakened, and he becomes more like an inferior animal; if he persists in this downward course, his lower powers become strengthened until finally they transcend and rule the higher. Then, to all intents and purposes, such a man's head is downwards and the lower part of his body is upwards just where his head ought to be.